Donald Trump doesn’t use artificial intelligence just to produce eye-catching images. He employs it as a political tool to fabricate reality in the symbolic realm.
The phenomenon was recently described by the Financial Times in an article dedicated to "slopaganda," a neologism combining the words "slop" and "propaganda." The text explains how Donald Trump’s team and his digital ecosystem are using images generated with artificial intelligence (AI) for personal glorification, attacks on adversaries, the dramatization of policies, and the production of political narratives before they even exist in reality.
According to this information, in May Trump increased the number of AI-generated images published on Truth Social sevenfold: 57 in the first three weeks of the month, compared to eight in all of April. Furthermore, he reportedly posted more than 2,700 times on that social network so far this year, an average of over 19 messages per day.
Trump has been using fake or exaggerated images as part of his digital strategy for more than a decade. What's new is the scale, frequency, and function of these images. AI allows him to portray Trump as a warrior, builder, redeemer, religious figure, or historical leader, while his adversaries appear degraded, ridiculed, or transformed into a threat. The image emotionally orders the world. It dictates who the hero is, who the enemy is, and which community should feel attacked.
To put it simply, traditional propaganda tried to convince with speeches, posters, or advertisements. Algorithmic propaganda seeks something more immediate: to produce emotional responses. It's not so much about a person rationally constructing an argument, but about them feeling fear, anger, belonging, or enthusiasm even before analyzing it. AI accelerates this process because it allows for the creation, in minutes, of symbols that previously required teams of designers, editors, and planners.
Several recent studies on Trump's communication help explain this strategy. One of them speaks of "algorithmic charisma": Trump adapts his leadership to the logic of the platforms, where virality, repetition, polarization, and sensationalism matter. His communicative power depends not only on what he says, but on how his messages are amplified by audiences, influencers, family members, institutional figures, and digital communities that reinterpret, comment on, and multiply each piece of content.
The digital far right has also learned that hate can act as a unifying force. Studies of platforms like Truth Social, Gab, Parler, and Gettr show that these spaces are not simply refuges from the moderation of Big Tech. They have become infrastructures for recruitment, belonging, and radicalization. Shared grievances are manufactured there, enemies are normalized, and resentment is transformed into political identity.
AI fits perfectly into this model. It allows for the production of nonstop propaganda that is visually striking and emotionally simplistic. Each image says: "We are under attack," "Our leader is resisting," "The enemy is monstrous," "The nation must be reclaimed," "Cuba next." It is the old logic of authoritarianism, but adapted to the attention economy.
That is why the problem is not only technological. It is political. Artificial intelligence, in the hands of reactionary projects, can become an automated factory of myths, enemies, and emotional obedience. Simply denouncing fake images is not enough to counter this. We must understand the architecture that makes them effective; that is, the platforms that reward polarization, the algorithms that prioritize the scandalous, and the communities trained to confuse spectacle with truth.
